19-year old Bryce Harper headed to MLB All-Star game

There may not have been a phenomenon with this pedigree in Major League Baseball since Alex Rodriguez. Bryce Harper continues his rapid rise to baseball immortality by being named as a replacement in this year's MLB All-Star game.

Two years ago, Bryce Harper was still heading to classes full time but since being drafted by the Washington Nationals the teen has forged a meteoric rise through the baseball ranks. In 2011, Harper spent the entire year in the minor leagues, finishing with a combined .297 average with 17 home runs and 26 stolen bases. This year he played in just 20 games with the Nationals' AAA Syracuse ball-club before he got the call to come up to the Bigs.

Since his call-up, Harper has been a spearhead of a Washington Nationals team that is leading the NL East this late into the season for the first time since they were the Montreal Expos. Harper has put up a respectable .283 average with eight homers and eight stolen bases. Despite a stellar start (especially for a 19 year old rookie), Harper wouldn't have made the All-Star game if Florida Marlins right fielder Giancarlo Stanton hadn't suffered an injury.

Harper will replace Stanton on the All-Star roster, making him the youngest position player ever to play in the mid-summer classic and the third youngest player ever.

'Words can't explain it right now,'' Harper said after being told he was headed to Kansas City ''I think it's exciting to go and I'm excited to get there and be around all the top guys in the country, of course, top guys in baseball. So I'm just going to take it all in, try to enjoy it with the family and try to just be as mellow and calm as I can.''